Police kill mentally ill teenager after her family calls for medical help

A California family called 911 for medical help for their mentally ill relative. Instead of a paramedic responding, police arrived and fatally shot the 18-year-old woman after they say she lunged at them with a knife.

The family of Yanira Serrano-Garcia said they called 911 around 9
p.m. Wednesday because she was acting erratically and refusing to
take her medication, and they were hoping paramedics would show
up and help. Her aunt told KTVU the 18-year-old suffered from
depression. The family had previously received just such medical
assistance, Raw Story reported.

Authorities said the initial report they received was of a
violent female in the streets of a Half Moon housing complex who
was thought to be armed. Two deputies responded to the call after
the family told dispatchers the woman was mentally ill and armed
with a knife that she refused to put down when asked, the San
Jose Mercury News reported.

"We have deputies that were responding to the scene with the
information that somebody was acting in a psychotic nature armed
with a knife and won't put it down even for her own family,"
San Mateo County Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman Rebecca
Rosenblatt said to
KNTV.

The deputy, Menh Trieu, was faced with a life-threatening
situation within 20 seconds of arriving on the scene, according
to Rosenblatt. "This was an individual coming at our deputy
with a knife intending to harm him," she said. "He
should be allowed to protect himself otherwise we might be doing
an interview about a deputy not going home to his family and
kids."

Rosenblatt said the nine-year department veteran had no choice,
according to the San Francisco Gate.

Dyanna Ruiz, a 12-year-old witness, said she saw Trieu running
away from a woman who had her arm raised and was chasing him.
"I saw the girl running at him with something in her
hands," Ruiz said to the
Gate. "I didn't know what was happening. I was really
scared about what to do."

The preteen, who had been on her way to a friend’s house, said
the deputy saw her, stopped and yelled at Serrano-Garcia. When
the woman didn’t stop, the officer fired.

The family does not believe lethal force was necessary in
handling the woman. "We want answers," her brother,
Lorenzo Serrano, said to reporters. "Why didn't they use a
Taser? We just want to know what really happened."

“She has special needs and we just want answers,”
Lorenzo said, according to
KRON 4. “Who are we supposed to call now when we need
help when who is supposed to help us is killing our kids?”

"I don't know why they couldn't have done better things
instead of getting a bullet through her and trying to shoot
her," Saul Miramontes, Serrano-Garcia's cousin told the
Mercury News. "She was kind of sick -- you know, at least
they could have Tasered her or at least tackled her."

"I just feel kind of sad. I feel mad. I don’t know why an
officer would come and do that and try to kill my cousin,"
Miramontes told
KTVU. "My cousin didn’t do nothing. For sure they could
have Tasered her. They could have at least done something
better."

It was the second time this year a police officer in San Mateo
County shot and killed a mentally ill person brandishing a knife.
The first officer-involved shooting happened March 18 in
Pacifica, when a Daly City SWAT officer killed 34-year-old Errol
Chang, the Mercury News reported. District Attorney Steve
Wagstaffe released a statement Friday that the shooting of Chang
was "justified" and he would not be pressing charges.

Wagstaffe is investigating the Serrano-Garcia shooting jointly
with the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Department. Treiu was
sequestered immediately after the event and taken into interviews
with investigators, Rosenblatt said. In accordance with
department protocol, he has been placed on paid administrative
leave.